Hilo Tsunami Warning

I was astonished to hear the news on Sunday that a Tsunami warning had been issued for Hawaii.

Judy and I visited the islands about six years ago and were quickly made aware of how seriously they see the tsunami threat.

Hawaii is fairly exposed to waves which are usually generated by volcanic activity along the west coast of the Americas.

The sight of tsunami warning sirens all over the place certainly hit home with us. In fact, there was a tsunami warning issued while we were on Oahu. A 5 magnitude quake occurred on the Big island causing the authorities to issue the alert. We were due out on the water at that time and were quite worried. Thankfully nothing happened.

While over there we visited the town of Hilo on the Big island which has a population of 40,000, about the same size as Dubbo.

Hilo is, unfortunately, quite prone to big waves. It happens to be on a section of the coast that is not only exposed to potential tsunami, it is at the focal point of a cove so the waves literally have to squeeze into a narrow. That makes them quite large and ferocious.

Hilo has been hit many times over the centuries, most notably in 1946 when 161 people died. As I understand it a warning was given but it was April Fools Day so many didn't take the threat seriously. Some even went to the beach to have a look.

On May 23, 1960 Hilo again suffered at the hands of a Tsunami with 61 killed.

When we visited the town we heard the stories which are still very much etched into the minds of the people.

The devestated area has never been redeveloped and it's strange to see vast areas of grassland between the beach and the town itself.

I'm certainly glad to hear that, this time it amounted to nothing. The modern warning systems that exist now probably would have save a great number had it been a serious threat.

Still the Indonesian tsunami and more recent events in Japan should remind us that even with the advantage of technology, we can still succumb to natures fury.

western_plains_breakfast

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